Illustrated Faith | Mary-Kay Tilden

One of my favorite things about this journaling bible movement is meeting all sorts of wonderful people I might not have met otherwise. When I first starting seeing Mary-Kay post I thought I LOVE her, she is AMAZING and let's be friends!!!! Like I wish she lived in the same town so I could watch her create and just soak it all in. You know those types? I love how informative she is while being such a CREATIVE type, sometimes it's hard to find that combo! Her heart for God is shining bright, and I am so thankful she is willing to share!! 

So HI! I'm Mary-Kay Tilden and thanks to Shanna for the invite to be a guest blogger here!  This is my prayer for me and for all of you: (As always - you can click to "embiggen")

I have always been a major note taker. As a child of the early 80's I was diagnosed "Hyperactive" - You'll never guess... I still am, but with the diagnosis of ADHD as an adult. If you know me, that's no surprise. So, I have developed many coping mechanisms in order to concentrate. Keeping my hands busy or my body busy, somehow locks in my mind and then I'm good to go. In classes, or workshops, I'm the one knitting, or pacing in the back of the room. Or, in the case of church, both! One of the things I've really trained myself to do is note-taking. This works particularly well when it is something I'm very interested in. In this case, of course, I'm interested in learning what the Lord is saying/teaching me. 

 

There is something to be said about writing in your bible. It must be important if you write things down in there. Seriously. We take notes to grab something for later, to punch us again when we need it weeks, months, years down the road. So, I take notes in my bible, and also in my big Moleskein where there is much more room.

And then from there, to really solidify the whole sermon or study in my mind I "Art it Up" either in my Art Journal, or in my bible. The photo below is from inside my bible from a sermon by Pastor Bill at Foothills Bible Church from August 2014.

Let's go back a little bit. I was challenged about my faith in 2010 and I failed miserably. It was a humbling and frustrating time where I had no answers, and no real ground to stand on. I knew in my heart what I believed in, but could not express it, nor back up my beliefs in any way with scripture or knowledge. I decided to start in the book of John. You know, "In the beginning was the Word..." I got out my MacArthur commentary on John and got to work.  Studying this way really makes the Word stick with me. My way of study/journaling, may not be to your liking, but that's ok. We all have our own methods, and this just happens to be mine.

I've been making hand- made journals for awhile now and this seemed like a natural addition to my obsession.

Here are a few of my pages from my Journal in 2011:

Today we now have this wonderful community created by Shanna Noel on Facebook where we can meet and share the Word of the Lord with other like minded ladies and Gents. How fortunate we are!  So, now I'm also creating in my ESV Journaling Bible and having fun with that as well. Thanks Shanna for having me!

Here are some pages from my ESV Journaling Bible below. I can see that this bible will be a lifelong work in progress. I'll tell you what, this is a great way to bring the bible and all the history it holds inside, to life. God's Word is a living, breathing entity. Always staying the same, yet staying relevant to you and me today. Have you ever been in church, or read the bible and thought, "Wait a minute.... That was just for me, right?" Only to realize later, "Yeah, that verse, that message, has been read, or said, time and time again." Uh, huh. God's word? It's ALIVE.

See, I wasn't kidding when I said she was just out of this world creative, right?! Thank you so much for sharing with us Mary-Kay I look forward to seeing more work from you in the future!!! If you are new to the idea of a journaling bible you can check out my FAQ here and please feel free to ask any questions!

go.be.inspired.  

Shanna